This invention relates to an improved insect trap and, in particular, to a trap having a double cone structure for use in combination with an insect attractant composition.
Throughout history, insects have distinguished themselves as persistent pests and health threats to both man and animals. Studies have been made documenting various insects as carriers of disease. The synanthropic fly is of particular concern to the public since it thrives and reproduces actively in both farm and home environments. As a result, substantial effort has been expended to develop trapping structures and chemical compositions for controlling the propagation of insects.
In the past, trapping structures utilizing wide mouth entry passages coupled with narrow exits in the shape of a cone have been employed to retain insects in a surrounding envelope which confines the insect for the rest of its life. The early trapping structures were designed to orient the entry and exit openings to take advantage of the insects tendency to favor travel in an upward direction toward the sun. Most of these devices relied upon natural attractants such as various food products, animal manure, putrifying meats, etc. to induce them to enter the wide opening. As a result, the number of flies and other insects entering the trap tended to be only a minor portion of the local insect population.
In the more recent past, sticky tapes, fly paper and hanging cylindrical traps with adhesive coatings on the exterior have been used to lower insect populations. Initially, these unsightly traps relied on the insect encountering these adhesive surfaces in their normal travels. The efficacy of the adhesive-based trap was enhanced by coloration studies which showed that insects favored certain colors, particularly the orange-yellow portion of the visible spectrum, as a preferred site to land on. In addition, studies showed that insects tended to land where other insects were already in place. This brought about the placement of simulated insects on the adhesive surfaces. All of these techniques enhanced the efficacy of the adhesive trap. Since these insect traps rely on an insect encountering the adhesive surface in its normal travels, the traps had to be publicly displayed and created an uncomfortable feeling especially when used in or viewed from a living environment.
Following the adhesive-based traps, the wide spread use of insecticides became favored to shorten the life of insects. However, recent studies have shown that use of insecticides in an indiscriminate manner has far greater ramifications than originally thought when the impact on man and his environment is examined. This has generated increasing interest in localized trapping of insects by the use of attractants. The attractants appeal to one or more of the senses of the insect to draw them to a central location. This central location need not be directly located in the normal living environment since the attractant causes the insects to travel to the attractant source. One such attractant used to draw synanthropic flies to a central location is the composition described and claimed in my U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,107, and used in the product marketed and sold by the Farnam Companies, Inc. Phoenix, Ariz. under the trademark APACHE.
Attractants of this type often utilize pheromones as sex attractants in combination with nitrogenous matter serving as feeding attractants. In the past few years, the use of attractants has proven to be a successful way to assist in controlling the insect population. The use of an attractant in combination with an insecticide is found to produce a rapid reduction in insect population, particularly in connection with flies. It is now possible to obtain attractants which through the use of pheromones result in a marked reduction in the female portion of the fly population thereby having an even greater impact on successive generations. The combination of attractant and insecticide has a possible drawback in that the insecticide is still being used to control the insect population. The insect ingesting a fly bait which contains an attractant and an insecticide is not confined at the distribution point. The insect tends to travel for a period after ingestion and die at a different location. This can create problems that reduces the desirability of using this type of control in many locations.
The combination of an improved insect trap which is designed to receive an attractant combination that assist in luring the insects to its interior is a highly desirable product. The absence of an insecticide coupled with the trapping or confining of the attracted insects not only reduces the population in the surrounding region, but also gathers the expired insects in the container itself. Furthermore, any environmental contamination occurring from either the insecticide or the insect ingesting it is essentially eliminated.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved insect trap for use in combination with an attractant composition to reduce insect populations. Furthermore, a major objective is to provide a structure which not only permits the attractant to exert its influence over the surrounding region, but also utilizes a novel double cone structure to draw the insects into the retaining chamber. In addition, the invention provides a structure which takes advantage of the tendency of insects to favor movement in an upward direction and toward an overlying light source. An important feature is the provision of a structure which shields a portion of the entering pathway from ambient light thereby permitting light from above to draw the insect into the trap.